The jacket cover shows a lovely, bright-eyed, but pensive little girl.  The subtitle intrigues the curious reader: "The story of a child trapped in silence and the teacher who refused to give up on her."  Yet the reader soon gets another view of the child, Venus: "...dusky cast of worn-in dirt to her dark skin...hair hung in matted tendrils...clothes were too big and had food stains...she smelled." Was Venus deaf?  Was she truly mute?

Author Torey Hayden, an educational psychologist and special education teacher, brings us into her classroom for one year.  The story of nimble, explosive, and violent Venus is punctuated with stories of her classmates, which include an undiagnosed dyslexic with an unacknowledged high IQ and twin boys with fetal alcohol syndrome. 

We observe Hayden's effective, often unorthodox methods of handling the class. However, we are soon plunged into the many factors that influence society.  The story is peopled with truant officers, police, social workers, and foster parents.

Hayden's final success with Venus is overshadowed by a much greater concern. She summarizes society's problem succinctly: " society had yet to come up with effective, civilized ways of dealing with people who were overstretched by too many children and too little money..."  The author cites the decline of industry, unemployment, and underfunding as significant causes.  Read Beautiful Child for greater understanding of our society's challenge to meet the needs of all our children.

Norma Craighton is new to the North Iowa area.  She has been a foster parent of special needs children, including two brothers with fetal alcohol syndrome.  We thank her for her guest review.  If you would like to "Write a Review" contact the Mason City Public Library at 421-3668 or email us at librarian@mcpl.org.